Chapter 8 – The Girl Is About to Go Have Some Fun

The civil and military officials quickly scattered, each coming up with their own excuse to leave.

Once they were gone, Mu Nanjin entered Dengxing Pavilion—only to be stopped by Shuyin.

“The master is meeting a guest,” Shuyin said calmly. “He cannot receive anyone else at the moment. If you have something urgent, you may tell me, and I will pass the message—or deliver the item for you.”

Mu Nanjin pouted, clearly displeased that she wouldn’t get to see the handsome man. “This is a confidential document. I must hand it to the National Preceptor personally.”

Shuyin glanced at the memorials in her hand. “Then you’ll have to wait.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know.”

Mu Nanjin tilted her head, glanced up at the blazing sun, and silently weighed the National Preceptor against her monthly stipend. In the end, the stipend won.

【Sigh, looks like I’ll have to see the handsome man another day.】

She handed the memorials to Shuyin—but just then, a cold voice drifted down from above.

“Shuyin, let her come up.”

Before Shuyin could respond, Mu Nanjin darted upstairs in a flash.

On the top floor, she found Feng Sinan standing stiffly before a stunning woman—Princess Xueyu. His tone was polite but firm.

“Your Highness, I still have work to attend to. Please, return for now.”

Princess Xueyu’s lips curved into a soft smile. “It’s been so long since I last saw you. Can’t you let me stay a while? I’ll wait until you’re finished, and we can dine together.”

Feng Sinan’s face remained expressionless. “Yuxia, see the princess off.”

Yuxia stepped forward and made a courteous gesture. “Your Highness, this way, please.”

Princess Xueyu hesitated but knew that pushing further would only irritate him. “Alright then, Brother Feng, I’ll go. I’ll come again tomorrow.”

She turned to leave—just in time to come face-to-face with Mu Nanjin coming up the stairs.

Her gaze swept over Mu Nanjin’s Jinyiwei uniform, and she sneered. “So you’re that shameless little girl who begged Colonel Tang to let you join the Jinyiwei?”

“Princess Xueyu, mind your manners,” Feng Sinan said coldly.

Princess Xueyu frowned, displeased that he was defending Mu Nanjin. “Everything I said is true! How is that rude?”

Mu Nanjin nodded in agreement. “The princess is right.”

Princess Xueyu smirked triumphantly. “See? Even she admits it.”

Feng Sinan: “…”

Then Mu Nanjin asked innocently, “Just now, I heard the National Preceptor call you Princess Xueyu. Are you the same Xueyu Princess who’s well past the marriage age, still refuses to wed, and shamelessly clings to the National Preceptor every day?”

Princess Xueyu froze, her smile stiffening in place.

Feng Sinan raised a brow, surprised that Mu Nanjin dared speak so boldly to a royal.

“You…!” Princess Xueyu’s face turned red with fury. “How dare you insult me!”

Mu Nanjin blinked her eyes innocently and threw her own words back at her. “Everything I said is true. Why shouldn’t I dare to say it?”

“You—you—you—!” Princess Xueyu was so angry she stomped her foot. “Guards—!”

“Have you had enough of this tantrum?” Feng Sinan’s cold gaze sliced toward her. “This is Dengxing Pavilion, not your Yunyang Palace.”

“…” Princess Xueyu dared not defy him. Still seething, she glared at Mu Nanjin. “You just wait and see!”

Mu Nanjin merely waved her off, utterly unfazed, and handed the memorials to Feng Sinan.

He accepted them, his expression calm. “You were rude to the princess. Aren’t you afraid of her revenge?”

“Of course I am.” Mu Nanjin nodded perfunctorily.

【Feng Sinan’s skin is smoother than a woman’s. Not a single pore in sight.】

Feng Sinan: “…”

Still has time to admire his skin? She hardly looked frightened.

“Wait here until I finish reading these,” he said. “Then take them back.”

“Then hurry up.”

Mu Nanjin plopped herself down, grabbed a piece of pastry from the table, and took a bite—perfectly at ease, as though she were in her own home.

Yuxia frowned, but seeing that Feng Sinan wasn’t upset, he held his tongue.

【Hmm, these pastries are even better than the ones made at the Tang residence.】

As she ate, Mu Nanjin’s curious gaze wandered around the room.

【The National Preceptor sure is poor. Not a single luxury item here—just cheap tables and chairs. I’d feel embarrassed asking for a reward in this place. Guess I’ll have to find another way to make money.】

Feng Sinan: “…”

Mu Nanjin found a comfortable spot, still munching as she studied him.

【Feng Sinan really is handsome. If he sat beside me while I ate, my appetite would double. It’s a pity he’s so cold all the time. But I guess that’s what happens when you cultivate the Emotionless Path—no emotions, no expressions. Oh right, that Princess Xueyu just called him ‘Brother Feng.’ Hah! What a joke. Feng Sinan is over two hundred years old—old enough to be her great-great-grandfather!】

Feng Sinan’s hand tightened around the memorials before he composed himself and handed them back to her. “Deliver these to His Majesty.”

“Got it.”

Mu Nanjin waved cheerfully as she left.

After she was gone, Yuxia frowned. “Master, she’s terribly impolite.”

Even the Emperor showed deference before the National Preceptor, yet that girl treated him like an equal.

“It’s fine,” Feng Sinan said mildly, walking to the window to watch her departure. “If she comes again, don’t stop her.”

“Yes.”

After returning the memorials to the Emperor, Mu Nanjin rushed straight to the Jinyiwei Commandant’s Office to collect her stipend.

The paymaster counted out two taels of silver and ten silver notes, each worth a hundred taels, placing them before her. “Two taels for your monthly salary, and one thousand taels as a special reward for your meritorious service.”

Officially, it was for “saving the Emperor,” but everyone knew it was really a reward for exposing Gong Xiurong’s true identity—just dressed up under that pretext.

“So much?” Mu Nanjin’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the silver notes.

“As long as you keep performing well, there’ll be plenty more rewards where that came from,” the paymaster said before turning back to his work.

Mu Nanjin gleefully tucked the silver notes into her chest and strolled out of the storeroom. On her way out, she ran into Tang Jingrui and Kan Chaoyan.

“Hey, Tang Jingrui, I won’t be home for dinner tonight,” she said cheerfully. “Don’t wait up.”

Tang Jingrui frowned. “Where are you going?”

Mu Nanjin didn’t answer aloud—but in her mind, she was practically singing.

【A maiden in bloom at fifteen, sweet and bright and fair.

The flowers of the pleasure halls are open everywhere.

The maiden steps outside tonight—to play without a care!】

Tang Jingrui and Kan Chaoyan: “…”